against
Princess Bao applauded in her heart, thinking that Sang Liuniang was indeed a man of extraordinary insight.
Song Jingnan is Emperor Sheng's teacher, and Chu Xuantao is Liu Chunwei's husband's brother-in-law. With these two people as examples, Liu Chunwei could no longer refute.
As expected, Liu Chunwei's face became even more annoyed, and he scolded, "How can you interrupt me when I'm talking?"
Qin Yousi smiled faintly and didn't say anything back.
Princess Bao's face darkened. She said, "Chengyue, Miss Sang is my guest. Why are you losing your temper without any explanation? Why do you have a problem with Miss Sang? Or is it me?"
Liu Chunwei became estranged from Emperor Sheng because of her marriage. She usually relied on the love her uncle, Prince Bao, had for her and did not dare to offend Prince Bao's wife.
Liu Chunwei softened her tone and said, "Today is Mid-Autumn Festival, and we should celebrate together as a family. I don't like having outsiders here."
Qin Yousi had only come up to greet Princess Bao and had no intention of staying for long, so he took the initiative to say, "On the way here, the princess and I guessed a few lantern riddles along the lake and won quite a few good things. If there were nothing else, we would have gone down. Since we've come up here, we must have gotten quite a few riddles."
Princess Bao smiled and said, "Go and have fun."
Just as he was turning to leave, Liu Chunwei suddenly shouted, "Stop!"
Liu Ying was a princess after all, so she said with a sullen face, "Cousin Chunwei, Liu Niang is my friend. She didn't provoke you. Why are you so fierce? Do you really think she's easy to bully?"
Liu Chunwei glared at her and pointed at Qin Yousi's horse-faced skirt and said, "This is my skirt, why is it on you? Take it off!"
Qin Yousi was speechless and said, "I bought this with real money at Zhizhen Pavilion yesterday. How did it become yours?"
Princess Yi saw that the situation was getting awkward, so she tried to smooth things over by saying, "Perhaps the people at Zhizhen Pavilion made a mistake?"
Liu Chunwei retorted, "Zhizhen Pavilion doesn't make clothes for everyone. She's not a royal family member, nor is she an official's wife. How could she possibly go to Zhizhen Pavilion? She must have no good clothes and stole them."
Her words seemed so unreasonable that everyone present was speechless.
Lonely Wu, who was accompanying her from a distance, stepped forward and said, "Princess, this skirt is a fine product of the Zhizhen Pavilion. It was originally only for display and not for sale. Our girl received the Linglong brand from Princess Linglong, so the owner of the Zhizhen Pavilion made an exception and sold it. It is definitely not that she stole the princess's skirt. You may have ordered a replica of this one, which is probably still in the hands of the embroiderer and will take a few months to complete."
"You!" Liu Chunwei felt as if she had been slapped hard in the face, and her face felt extremely hot.
Princess Bao spoke silently, trying to mediate, "The Princess's exquisite cards are not easily given away. Chengyue didn't know about this, so she misunderstood. Just explain it clearly, and everything will be fine. Sixth Lady, I will apologize to you on Chengyue's behalf."
Liu Chunwei didn't appreciate it at all. Instead, she got anxious and stood up and asked, "Why did my aunt give you the Linglong card?"
Qin Yousi really didn't know that this dress was related to Princess Linglong, but Princess Linglong was Baili Hongyuan's mother, so it was not surprising that Gu Wu could get the clothes from Zhizhen Pavilion.
Seeing Liu Chunwei so anxious, Qin Yousi was willing to let her worry for a while longer, and said with a smile: "Maybe it's for Master Baili's sake."
As expected, Liu Chunwei's encounter with Baili Hongyuan made her even more agitated, and she asked, "What is your relationship with cousin Baili?"
Qin Yousi said, "If Princess is so curious, why not go and ask tomorrow? The lanterns are almost gone, so I'll take my leave now."
Coming down from the platform, Qin Yousi asked Gu Wu, "What's the deal with the Linglong card?"
Gu Wu said, "Zhizhen Pavilion is Princess Linglong's property. The Governor's clothes are usually delivered to me by Zhizhen Pavilion, so they recognize me. When I went there with you yesterday, Zhizhen Pavilion knew it was the Governor's arrangement, so they wouldn't dare to object to any clothes you liked. Just now, as a temporary measure, I lied and said it was because of the Linglong brand."
Qin Yousi teased, "Your master is so charming. Princess Chengyue has been married for many years and still misses him."
Gu Wu smiled and said, "The Governor does not like Princess Cheng Yue and has always avoided her. Your subordinates have seen it clearly."
"Does he know that you are framing him like this?"
Gu Wu said, "My lady, this is true. My lord originally wanted to accompany you to the moon-viewing banquet, but when he knew Princess Chengyue was coming, he hid in the palace."
Qin Yousi walked towards the pool with a smile.
Liu Ying thought about it and whispered in her ear, "Looks like Lord Baili has taken a fancy to you? He's old and does things that offend people all the time. Who knows, he might even offend the emperor someday. He's not a good choice."
Qin Yousi suppressed his smile and said, "My princess, you are worrying too much. It's not that he is not good enough, but I am not worthy of him at this moment."
Liu Ying quickly said, "Nonsense, you are smart, beautiful, and have great medical skills, how could you not be worthy of him?"
Qin Yousi said frankly, "His mother is the eldest princess, and his biological father is the King of Beiliang. Both of my parents are dead, and my family is ruined. This is an indisputable fact. Even if he doesn't care about his wife's background or Princess Linglong's opinion, the emperor will care. He can choose not to marry her, but if he does, the emperor will intervene."
According to Baili Hongyuan's status, it would be best for him to marry a noble lady from Beiliang, who could help Emperor Sheng stabilize the situation in the north without threatening Emperor Sheng's power internally.
"That's right...it's good that you think it through. I'm just afraid that you will be deceived by an old man and be sad in the future." Liu Ying said.
Qin Yousi laughed and said, "If Lord Baili knew you said that about him, he would definitely remember you severely. Don't worry, he and I are more like allies with the same goal at the moment."
When most of the guests arrived, Princess Bao announced the start of the banquet. There were boats carrying dancers who danced and played music on the surface of the pool, and the food was made of rare ingredients.
Qin Yousi gave his crab to Liu Ying: "Remember to drink some warm vinegar after eating, otherwise you will have a stomachache at night."
Liu Ying shook his head and said, "No, I was born and raised in Huangzhou. I can eat half a box without any problem. These are not enough for me to satisfy my hunger."
"Haha, Princess, you have a good appetite." A man's laughter came.
Liu Ying looked at him unhappily: "Who are you? Why are you sitting in the men's area instead of sitting in the back and eavesdropping on our conversation?"
Qin Yousi recognized the person who came. It was Ye Jiashu’s good brother He Lian.
He Lian bowed and greeted the two men, then said to Liu Ying, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but a good friend who lives far away in Huangzhou asked me to send something to the princess."
Liu Ying blushed instantly when she thought of Ye Jiashu.
He Lian said, "Qi Lang heard in Huangzhou that the princess loved crabs, so he selected two baskets of the most delicious crabs of the season and had them delivered to the capital at top speed. Worried that the princess wouldn't accept any, he sent them to my restaurant and told me to prepare a crab feast for the princess."
After hearing this, Liu Ying could no longer sit still and pulled Qin Yousi to leave.
Qin Yousi said with concern, "If I leave right after the banquet begins, Princess Bao might think I'm angry about what happened before. Why don't you go? I can't eat cold food either."
She remembered that she had a few words to say to Liu Chunwei.
Liu Ying asked worriedly, "Do you really want to stay here alone?"
Qin Yousi said: "It's okay, I have Gu Wu to accompany me."
Liu Ying was eager to have Ye Jiashu's crab feast, but she couldn't resist and followed He Lian.
As soon as the two of them left, Madam Gu from the Ye Mansion anxiously ran to Qin Yousi's side and asked, "Why did the princess leave with the boy from the He family? Could the He family take advantage of Qilang's absence to steal his girlfriend?"
Qin Yousi secretly laughed in his heart, but deliberately said: "Mr. He invited the princess to travel with him, and I can't stop him. If Madam is really anxious, you still have to find a way to help Qilang more and help him get the beauty as soon as possible. Even if there is no Mr. He, there are still other Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li. The princess is so beautiful now, and the ladies present are all watching."
Mrs. Ye watched Liu Ying become more and more beautiful day by day, and she was really confused.
Qin Yousi picked up a small yellow croaker from the table with his chopsticks and said to Madam Ye, "I heard that Qilang's outstanding performance at the shipyard earned him a promotion from Captain Yan, and he's been assigned to the engineering battalion to assist in the construction of warships. It's an important assignment, but also a difficult one that's hidden from the public. It won't take three to five years to show any results."
Madam Ye was extremely anxious. She said, "Three to five years? If Master's mourning period ends and Qilang still can't get married to the princess, who will help Master speak well of him in the court? This child, when he's at home, just likes to draw and paint, doing useless things! Go and suppress the pirates, gain military merit, and then the Prince of Dongping will have a reason to promote him!"
Qin Yousi sneered in his heart. Ye Gu was only thinking about military exploits and was not worried about the danger of suppressing bandits at all!
"The Gu family is also a family of great wealth and power, having produced two ministers. Madam, don't you have any ideas?"
The era when the Gu family had two cabinet ministers is a long time ago, but the fact that Prince Bao was able to marry the daughter of the Gu family as his princess shows that they are still very powerful, and they may even be the kind of behind-the-scenes faction that does not show their strength.
Madam Ye said with some embarrassment, "If I could find a way, would I still need to count on Qilang to help his father? I could just ask my family to promote the master."
Qin Yousi smiled. That made sense. This Gu must be the type who has no say in her natal family.
"Even so, please, Madam, please act like this, at least to let the Princess know that you and Qilang are a loving mother and a filial son, so that she will have fewer concerns about marrying her daughter off."
Madam Ye sighed for a while, thought about it, and finally went to the highest platform to talk to Princess Bao.
Qin Yousi watched the singing and dancing on the pond for a while. When people started moving around during the banquet, she asked Gu Wu to invite Princess Chengyue to come down to enjoy the lanterns.
Gu Wu hesitated, and Qin Yousi said, "If she sees me looking for her, she will definitely come."
Gu Wu explained, "No, I was afraid that the princess would embarrass you."
Qin Yousi said: "No, after tonight, maybe the princess and I can become friends."
Gu Wu went there doubtfully, and after asking the princess' maid to pass on the message, Princess Chengyue quickly withdrew from the table and found Qin Yousi with a proud look.
"This princess, for the sake of Princess Bao, has not bothered with you. How dare you come and prance in front of me?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
